Postgraduate Study in Archaeology and Ancient History

Postgraduate Funding Opportunities

For details of postgraduate funding opportunities available for 2013/14 please see the School's funding opportunities page or visit the University's Studentships and Funding pages.

Our graduate programmes include:

Undertaking a postgraduate degree at Leicester University, whether taught or by research, provides you with scope to advance your job prospects, to deepen your understanding of themes and periods of the past, to engage more critically with debates and issues, and to develop new skills in researching, thinking, and presenting.

The University of Leicester provides an excellent base at which to undertake campus-based postgraduate study: besides high quality provision in the new library, the University campus is close to the bustling centre of an historic city which is now one of the most ethnically diverse in Europe (and justly famed for its Asian cuisine). Our long-established Distance Learning Unit means that support for distance learning students is exceptional.

Masters Programmes

As an RAE 5-rated department with internationally regarded staff, the School of Archaeology and Ancient History prides itself on its highly successful and proven combination of leading-edge research with top-quality teaching, in an informal and friendly environment. Our Masters programmes are designed to enable you to explore in depth and in critical detail periods and themes of specific interest, ranging from Prehistory to Greek history and archaeology through to Roman and into modern contexts, or with scope to specialise in archaeological theory and practice. We have dedicated MA study space and seek to ensure that greater one-to-one contact with staff, alongside working with fellow Masters students, will help you to develop fuller independent and group research and related skills.

The Masters programmes are successful and established courses which offer students great opportunities to enhance and expand their knowledge in specific fields and prepare them for doctoral study, museum-, field-related or other employment. Most of the programmes are available as either campus-based or part-time by distance learning. Click on the links above to see the many areas and themes examined in our Masters courses.

Postgraduate Research

Many of our Masters students continue onto PhD study with us or elsewhere. The School at Leicester features both campus-based and distance learning PhD students undertaking research on an exciting range of topics, supported by staff expertise. All students are provided with one main and a supporting supervisor.

Browse a list of all current postgraduate research projects to see the variety of themes being explored and to read some of the posters produced by students in their research at Leicester and presented at conferences in Britain and abroad, as well as at events at Leicester such as this year's Festival of Postgraduate Research.

Calling all alumni! If you are a graduate from an undergraduate or a Masters degree here at Leicester University, then we can offer you a special 10% discount on fees across your next stage of study with us in the academic year 2012-13, whether on a campus-based MA or for a campus-based/distance learning PhD!

Recent MA student profile: Julia Nikolaus

I recently completed my MA in ‘Rome and its Neighbours’ at the School of Archaeology julia nikolaus

and Ancient History at the University of Leicester. Both my desire to learn more about the Roman World, especially the provinces, and the wide range of expertise held by the staff within the department led me to choose Leicester as the University at which I wanted to undertake my Masters. I can wholeheartedly say that I have not regretted this decision. Not only were the lectures and seminars truly stimulating and challenging but the teaching material and methodology was to the highest standard, covering a wide range of possible topics. Moreover, the support from academic as well as administrative staff was outstanding. During my MA I was introduced to new and exciting theories and methods within Roman archaeology and Ancient History. I learnt how to critically evaluate them and how to coherently present them through presentations. However, a key part of the student experience is also being able to wind down during stressful periods and the School’s postgraduate community is a very active one, with regular events outside of the department, making it a fantastic environment to find new friends.

Current PhD student profile: Marta Fanello

I am an Italian graduate student and currently a first year PhD research student at the University of Leicester. I graduated in Archaeology and Ancient Cultures at the Università di Bologna (BA, MA) and a year ago I was offered the ‘Iron Age PhD studentship’ funded by the School of Archaeology and Ancient History in Leicester. This has been a great opportunity to undertake my research, which focuses on the study of coinage in the Late Iron Age Britain, with particular emphasis on the reconstruction of social and cultural characteristics of insular communities and the different ways of their reception of Roman influences.
The University of Leicester is the best place to develop this kind of research, given its reputation in the field of British Iron Age studies. The School also offers an exciting range of training and skill-improving activities.
I have really appreciated the friendly staff and the high quality of service provided and I am delighted to work in such a vibrant and supportive scholarly environment and to enjoy its countless and exciting activities. You never get bored!

Located in central England, Leicester is ideally placed for exploring Britain; by train the city is little more than an hour from the centre of London and lies a similar distance from Oxford and Cambridge. Prehistoric, Roman, medieval and industrial archaeological sites and monuments are fully represented in the county and Midlands, whose landscape offers many opportunities for exploration - including the famous Rutland Water.

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